Sous Vide Pargo

The Ultimate Spearfishing crew assists with an event hosted at the Little River Inn called Forage and Ferment http://www.littleriverinn.com/2019-mendocino-coast-forage-ferment-experience/. With this comes the responsibility of serving local seafood turned into small bites.  To prepare for this event we decided to experiment with the possibility of a seared sous vide fish which would help with prep time.

To experiment we used previously speared 75 lb pargo from Baja, Mexico. The sous vide machine we chose to experiment with was the Joule. Run by a phone app that can be link via  bluetooth or wifi it worked flawlessly.  It is amazing to be able to step away and monitor the machine keeping predetermined cook time in account.  We definitely recommend checking them out: http://shop.chefsteps.com.

Soud Vide Pargo

• Preheat Sous Vide to 113 F.
• Cut fish to 3 oz portions removing any bloodline. Try to keep approximately 1″ thick if possible. This will control the salinity in the dry brine process.

•  Dry Brine with 4 parts salt to 1 part sugar. For this recipe we used 1 part Lime Fresco Salt and 3 parts kosher salt, the lemon acidity was not tasted in the final product.  Let sit for 20 minutes. If you are using smaller pieces of fish reduce dry brine time or fish will be salty.

• After 20 minutes your fish will have releases some moisture.  Lightly rinse with cold water and pat dry. What we did notice is how the fish had decreased in size and increased in firmness.

• Insert into Sous Vide Bag with desired seasoning avoiding any saltier seasonings.  For this trial we simply added olive oil. If using resealable bags insert bag into water and try to “burp” air out before fully sealing.  This helps keep the fish fully submerged and thorough cooking.

• Cook for approximately 30 minutes.  This portion of time is important to refer to your sous vide machines guide for recommended time. Higher quantities and thicker cuts can change the recommended cook time.  Monitor the temp of water to make sure you temp does not drop too drastically as you add bags.
• Preheat hot cast iron pan lightly oiled and sear for 30 seconds per side to obtain preferred sear and browning.

What we found is that the fish had a very good firm texture and was very moist with no fish flavor, this also is because the fish was handled properly post spearing and bloodline removed.   This is a very good option for those who have friends or family who are tentative about fish.   On the side we served with a black bean and corn hash and chili aoili which paired nicely.